Realization
by Faz Master
Summary: Sokka in war. Think DDay.


AN: Yeah I don't own Avatar, but if I did it would be so awesome. With this story just think D-Day and Avatar combined. Enjoy.

Realization

The ocean breeze brought Sokka no relief while standing on the deck of the Water Tribe war ship. Nothing could quell the anxiety that was building up in him. Tomorrow his division along with many others was going to storm the beaches of the Fire Nation on the day of the eclipse. At this point in the war Sokka had proven himself to the Water Tribe to be an excellent leader and was made a captain.

The anxiety wasn't from the probability of dieing, it was that he knew most if not all of his division was going to die. This massive raid was practically suicide. Infantry rushing heavily defended beaches; Sokka's superiors should have just told him and his men to kill themselves.

An order was an order so Sokka couldn't do anything about it. The best he could do was having his men enjoy themselves tonight. Sokka decided he should be with his men tonight and walked below deck.

The next morning…

The sun had just risen when the small landing crafts were on there way to the beach. Just because the Faire Nation couldn't bend didn't mean they were helpless. Large flaming balls of rock were landing around the craft Sokka and numerous other men were in. To the left of him Sokka saw a boy about a year younger than him. The boy looked terrified while he prayed to whatever spirits would listen.

"So what's your name?" Sokka asked trying to calm the boy down.

"Han Leng, This is going to be my first battle." He said in between prayers.

"So you're a new recruit?" Sokka said trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yes my father gave me his knife for good luck." Han Leng said as he started to calm down.

"Was your father a warrior?" Sokka asked quizzically.

"No he was a fisherman; this is what he used to fillet the fish he caught."

Han Leng said almost embarrassed.

Han Leng knew that Sokka was his superior and he came from a long line of warriors. He also knew that Sokka traveled with the Avatar and was a good leader and friend. Han Leng felt good knowing that Sokka was going to be next to him when everything went to hell.

"Don't worry you'll see you dad again." Sokka said with a smile even though they both new that that was unlikely.

"I hope we both do." Han Leng said with a smile

The ship next to Sokka's exploded into flames when a flaming boulder hit it. Sokka could hear the screams of the men that were on that ship, he quickly blocked them out.

"Fifteen seconds!" shouted the man piloting the vessel.

"Well here we go." Han Leng said while grabbing his spear from its resting place on his back.

"Our mission is to secure a landing zone for the platoons coming after us. There is no turning back; let's kill as many of those bastards as we can." Sokka shouted.

Five seconds later the front of the landing craft opened to the beach. The men in the front were quickly pelted with arrows.

"Over the sides!" Sokka said while grabbing the side.

When Sokka hit the water he dove down and looked up at his surroundings. He saw men getting struck with arrows. What was more disturbing was what he saw below him. Sokka saw men struggling to get gear off their backs, some of them weren't as successful as others.

Sokka got his head together and started to swim towards shore. When Sokka finally got to shore he immediately wished he had stayed in the water. Surrounding Sokka was dead men and red water. Sokka ran as fast as he could along side other men lucky enough to actually get on the beach. While running many of the solders were hit with arrows. The first thought Sokka had was Yu Yan Archers in the bunkers. Sokka cursed to himself. This was a simple shooting gallery for them. When Sokka and the few men around him finally got to a short sand wall he asked for a regroup.

Sokka looked at the faces of the men around him. They were full of fear and questioning; probably of why the spirits would allow such horrors to happen. One of the faces was Han Leng. Sokka silently thanked the Spirits that the boy was still alive.

A fire ball landed next to the group exploding on impact. Sokka was knocked over covered in sand, he could taste blood but that was put aside. There was a ringing noise in Sokka's head but other than that there was silence. Sokka started to look around at his fellow warriors. There was a man about the age of Sokka's father desperately trying to keep his intestine in his stomach. There was a man in his early twenties clutching a stump that used to be his leg. Sokka couldn't hear but could see he was screaming for his mother.

Sokka looked to his side to try and find Han Leng. Sokka wished ha hadn't found him with the condition he was in. His face was horribly burned along with the rest of his body. The only way Sokka recognized Han Leng was from the knife he had clutched against his chest. Sokka took the time to close Han Leng's eyes. His fingers were burnt from the touch but Sokka didn't care.

"Why am I doing this? Why is anyone doing this?" Sokka questioned to himself.

"Why are these men dying for a war that's been going on for a hundred years?" Sokka said starting to get angry.

"They were husbands, brothers, and sons." Tears were streaming down Sokka's face.

Sokka stood up and looked at the bunker. He started laughing. An arrow struck his chest, but Sokka continued laughing. He laughed at his memories of the Avatar, Toph, his sister, but mostly at the stupidity of war.


End file.
